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Garona Halforcen
Bloodgulch & Twilight Citadel, Twilight Highlands }} Garona Halforcen is a half-orcThe Destiny of the Orcish Hordes half-draeneiConflicting Loyalties quest giver for the Horde in the Twilight Highlands. Like most others, she believed she was half-human until the truth was revealed to her.Secrets She is an assassin and a spymaster. She was an emissary of the Horde during the first invasion of Azeroth, and was the reluctant murderer of King Llane Wrynn. Later, she joined her son and the other members of the New Council of Tirisfal in their battle against the Twilight's Hammer clan. Biography Birth and Early Life The birth of Garona was orchestrated by Gul'dan, who "bred" one of his orcish warriors to a draenei female. The result was a child that, as discovered later, looked surprisingly human. Gul'dan had her magically aged and tortured, The Gathering'' also placing controls on her mind later to ensure obedience. Garona was raised in barracks with her father's people and hated by the bigger orcs for being different. Their judgements of her being "ugly and deformed" would reflect how she felt about herself for years to come. Her birth mother's brother however, the Vindicator Maraad, did not care that Garona was half orc. Having learned his sister had borne a child, he began searching for his niece, a search that would stretch on for many years.Secrets Rise to power Having traveled throughout Draenor, Garona was well-versed in the culture of the orcs, making her an invaluable asset to the Shadow Council. She was inducted into the warlock-controlled Stormreaver clan. She quickly became the chief interpreter of the Shadow Council and Gul'dan's personal spy and assassin. However, Garona belonged to no clan, and had no clan allegiance.The Last Guardian, 207 Due to her mixed blood, she was eternally an outcast and had to rely upon her wits to keep her alive in a harsh world. Upon arriving in Azeroth, Garona's experience lent a great deal to her insight with their newest foe, the humans. Emissary to Medivh She was a member of one of the first raiding parties into Azeroth, and also one of the few to confront the Guardian Medivh (the Magus). While her party was wiped out, she was spared and sent back to relay a message to the warlock Gul'dan. After a period of time, she returned and met with the Magus on many occasions. Eventually, she was granted the title of Emissary and sent to Karazhan. It was there that she met Khadgar, Medivh's apprentice and observer from Dalaran.The Last Guardian Khadgar was, at first, furious at her presence, but the Magus demanded Khadgar treat her with respect. A bond of trust formed between the two when they had to combine their skills to defeat a bizarre demon that appeared in the library of the great tower. Garona and Khadgar continually criticized each other's race while defending their own. Eventually, Garona mentioned to Khadgar that the orcs had been arriving on Azeroth via a gateway known as the Dark Portal. Garona also began to respect Magus Medivh a great deal, and because of that respect, she started to question her true loyalties. Despite being a spy, she reported that the "Old Man" had told her everything she wanted to know; she felt that she could never break his trust. She even made the comment that the bond of trust made her feel more "human", and that she felt Medivh had a grand dream to bring something better to this world. It may have been around this time that Medivh fathered Garona's son, Med'an. Battle with Medivh Due to Medivh's eventual bizarre behavior, Khadgar and Garona felt it necessary to investigate and uncover any connection between his actions and the sudden arrival of the orcs. Using a spell to call forth a vision of the past, Khadgar and Garona discovered that Medivh was, in fact, the man who had brought the orcs into Azeroth, thus uncovering his plans of murder and deceit. This shook Garona to the core, and while she initially thought it was a misfire of the spell, she eventually accepted the truth. After a short battle with Medivh, where Khadgar used his powers to summon a vision of Aegwynn that distracted the Magus, the two escaped and made their way to the (former) Kingdom of Azeroth. Despite a small interruption in their journey, they eventually met up with Lord Anduin Lothar. They told their story to Lothar and King Llane Wrynn of Azeroth, but Llane could not believe it was true. Despite Llane's skepticism, it was Lothar who realized that the Magus had truly gone insane; at his suggestion, a small raiding party was gathered to confront Medivh in Karazhan. Later that very evening, Garona donned the colors of Azeroth at Lothar's request and joined the party as they set out via gryphons to the tower. After searching about the tower, they soon came across a hidden passageway downward. It led into a mirror image of the tower itself, where Medivh's second shadow Sargeras dwelled. It was also at this time that both Garona and Khadgar witnessed something that would forever change the half-orc. Karazhan presented Garona with a vision of her future, where she was forced to watch in horror as "future-Garona"The Last Guardian, 287 murdered King Llane during the siege against Stormwind City. For a while, Garona was terrified of what she knew would eventually come to pass. Llane was one of the few people in her life who had treated her with kindness and she did not want to kill him. Khadgar finally snapped her out of her state of shock and forced her to focus on the more important matter at hand. He told her that if the vision was true, then it meant they would both get out of Karazhan alive (since Khadgar had previously seen a vision of his own future as well), and that if it was false then she could die taking comfort in the knowledge that she wasn't destined to betray King Llane. Eventually, they found Medivh, who unleashed all the powers bestowed upon him by his mother and the demon lord Sargeras. Garona, now boiling with anger at Medivh's betrayal — and perhaps hoping to die rather than live out the vision she had seen — attacked the Magus head on, only to be struck down by a powerful spell. Medivh expressed disappointment in Garona, telling her that he had hoped she of all people would understand what he was going through and not oppose him. Feeling little remorse for the half-orc, he then touched her head and cast a second spell, filling her mind with the doubts and divisions that he himself had carried. She fell to the floor, incapacitated. Moments later, after much conflict, Medivh was finally slain by Khadgar and Lothar; Gul'dan was still deep within the Guardian's thoughts and lapsed into a coma. Garona was nowhere to be found... Llane's assassination .]] Soon after, Garona became a trusted confidant to King Llane. Due to Medivh's mind games, she was unable to form a true allegiance. She reported to King Llane the inner workings of the Horde and how he could use it to his advantage. After her "release" by orc forces during a raid on Northshire Abbey, she was ordered (presumably by the Shadow Council) to kill King Llane.The Temple of the Damned Her vision had become a reality, but she was unable to disobey the order, as she was still under the influence of Guldan's magic. She carried out the task, and with a deep sadness murdered King Llane, cutting his heart out. Llane's son, prince Varian witnessed the murder, but even years into his adulthood was confused as to why Garona had tears streaming down her face. At the time, she was pregnant with her son, Med'an. Gul'dan was in a coma by this time, so Orgrim Doomhammer used this situation to his advantage, killing the corrupt Blackhand and seizing the mantle of Warchief. His spies found Garona and tortured her almost to death, until she finally revealed the secret location of the Shadow Council. The Council was destroyed, and most warlocks were slain. Spies of an unknown faction continued searching for Garona even after the Second War.Flashback She would avoid them all, and in time gave birth to Med'an. She sought out her friend, the ancient undead mage Meryl Winterstorm, and citing her assassination of King Llane, she told Meryl that she was a danger to her child and entrusted the baby to him. Informing him of the baby's name, she asked that he never tell Med'an who his mother was. Bidding Meryl farewell, she disappeared from the rest of the world, but would keep watch over her son from afar. Garona's return Garona continued watching over her son. At the time of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, Med'an was attacked by a Twilight's Hammer clan party formed by an ogre, an orc, a tauren, a Night Elf, and a Forsaken. As they were beating him, she suddenly appeared and killed the entire party; later, she and her son were captured by more Twilight's Hammer members. She was taken to Ahn'Qiraj but Med'an was released.http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/misc/wccomic/issue-16-sneakpeek.html When she arrived she found that Cho'gall was still alive and that he knew the spell that Gul'dan used on her mind to force her to do things against her will. He sent her to Theramore to assassinate the newly returned King Varian Wrynn, thereby using her to ruin any possible chance of a human-orc alliance. Garona was also ordered to assassinate secondary targets Prince Anduin Wrynn and Warchief Thrall, but was ordered to kill King Varian Wrynn at the summit at any cost. This attack failed and she was captured by Jaina Proudmoore, while Med'an was recaptured by the Twlight's Hammer clan. Jaina and Aegwynn discovered the spell placed on her mind but could not remove it without causing her great pain and possible death. She made a deal with Valeera Sanguinar despite this, agreeing to endure the pain and give them the information they required if Valeera used it to go save her son from the Twilight Hammer clan. While Valeera and Meryl Winterstorm went to rescue Med'an, Garona was rescued by her uncle Maraad while Theramore was under attack from the Scourge. Maraad explained to Med'an who his mother was and who he was, but as they were talking Valeera came looking for Garona. Thinking that Valeera had not kept her part of the deal, Garona escaped while Maraad distracted her; she ran into Med'an who was following Valeera. She explained that until Cho'gall was dead it was not safe for her to be around him, as he was the only one remaining who knew the safe word that would control her. Med'an was to stay with his great uncle until that time came to pass. Garona then went to Ahn'Qiraj to wait for her chance to kill Cho'gall. 's brain room)]] In World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Garona is seen during Yogg-Saron's vision The Assassination of King Llane. Cataclysm Garona is first encountered by Horde players at Bloodgulch in the Twilight Highlands, where she continues to work against the Twilight's Hammer clan and Cho'gall. She continues this fight and role as a quest giver at the Twilight Citadel in the same zone. Quests ;Bloodgulch * * * ;Twilight Citadel * * * * * * * * * * * * Parentage .]] Garona's "non-orcish" heritage has been very much disputed over the years. Some believed her to be part human''The Last Guardian, 198The Last Guardian, 204, 221, 228Horde Player's Guide, 167 (i.e. half-human) as she originally claimed. Medivh and Khadgar believed that the human part was actually a near-human race from Draenor, and not the same race of humans from Azeroth.The Last Guardian, 234 Others have suggested she is part draeneiBlizzard lore posts#Garona's race (i.e. half-draenei) which has been confirmed, although researchers such as Brann Bronzebeard had denied it (based on her appearance, draenei appearance, and their limited knowledge of other existing half-draenei in the world). Initially, it was believed (even by Garona herself) that she was of half-orc and half-human heritage, as she claimed in the Warcraft I manual and in The Last Guardian. In the manual Garona specifically states she is "...of both Orc and Human lineage". Garona also mentions that she was forced through the portal along with laborers into Azeroth from Draenor, meaning that she was born on Draenor.Tides of Darkness, 108 Even Medivh, the Explorers' League, many orcs and humans, and others thought that she was half-orc and half-human. Humans tended to focus on her orc parts, and orcs focused on her human parts. To orcs she had human hands, too pale, too weak, and too ugly. However, as Brann pointed out, due to her age it would seem impossible for a human and orc to have produced her since she was already a young woman at the time of the First War. Brann implied that half-draenei have physical features from both orcs and draenei,Horde Player's Guide'' but that her features did not match those of the draenei he had seen (which at the time were mostly Lost Ones''Lands of Conflict, 58). It was ultimately revealed that Gul'dan was aware of her true parentage but lied to Garona and made her believe she was half-human so she could more easily infiltrate the court of King Llane Wrynn. As mentioned before, Garona herself had no reason to not believe Gul'dan's lies, until she met her pure-blooded draenei uncle Maraad. When he revealed her heritage to her, Garona could not believe him until he pressed her memory. It was only then that Garona realized that he was telling her the truth. When she spoke to Med'an a few minutes later, she also told him of their draenei heritage to his surprise, showing that she had fully accepted this revelation to be true. Before her full race identity was revealed in the comic, this issue was brought up on the official forums where the former community manager Caydiem claimed that Garona was in fact half-orc and half-draenei. As the uncorrupted draenei in the Burning Crusade expansion had not yet been revealed, Caydiem made this plausible by stating that the draenei seen so far in the game had been mutated as Draenor was torn apart by portals and through their portal travels. Appearance With the recent revelation of the appearances of the ''true draenei and their eredar-like forms — it was hard to believe that Garona was half-draenei since she lacked their cranial features, leg structure, presence of a tail, and hooves — her prowess as an assassin makes it unlikely she is "half-uncorrupted" draenei. However, in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, there is a half-orc half-draenei blademaster in Nagrand — Lantresor of the Blade, leader of the Boulderfist ogres — who reuses Rend Blackhand's orc model lacking draenei features and human features. Although Lantresor's model may just be using an orc model due to the lack of a true half-draenei model in-game (in the same way that half-elves are represented by elven models in game), Garona looks like him, without draenei features. In the World of Warcraft (Wildstorm comic), she is portrayed, similar to her older renditions, with dominant orcish features. Her only draenei features are the eye glows (not white, however, but purple) and the structure of her forehead. She also mentions to Maraad that her feet are "almost like hooves."Secrets Horns and the tail are missing, although it is possible that they have been physically removed or simply are rudimentary and hidden under her clothes and hair. Her leg structure has nothing in common with the draenei's though. Her clothes, tattoo, and haircut are similar to 2003's orc assassin concept art by Samwise Didier, implying this may have been an older picture of Garona and not an unknown assassin. Disappearance from games Warcraft III In early release information related to Warcraft III, including private demonstrations to the media, it was mentioned that Garona was intended to play a major role in the main campaign, likening her importance to that of Thrall himself. On April 27, 2000, IGN.com interviewed Rob Pardo about the up-and-coming game titled Warcraft III. In an interview conducted by IGN, Garona was mentioned as a playable hero unit, but by the game's release in 2002, she was strangely missing. World of Warcraft During the World of Warcraft beta, she was seen in Ravenholdt Manor, the guild of assassins, with the title of "Grand Master of the Assassin's Guild". She was removed before the game's release, but has since reappeared in the Cataclysm beta. Trivia *She considered Khadgar, Lothar, and Llane to be her only human friends. *At BlizzCon's 2007 Q&A, it was stated that she might indeed return to the orcish race when Chris Metzen strongly implied that he would like to introduce Garona as a possible love interest for Thrall. However, this is just an idea that was randomly thrown out there it would seem. *When he first meets Khadgar, Med'an tells him that his mother was aged, then tortured, and how she became involved with the Shadow Council. It is not mentioned how he knew all of this, as he had only talked with her for a few moments at best. However, it may simply be that he learned all of this from his great-uncle Maraad. *Her presence in the Horde aligned settlement of Bloodgulch seems to place her Neutral status into question. It is unknown if she rejoined the Horde through the Dragonmaw clan or is simply using Bloodgulch as a base of operations in her vendetta against Cho'gall and the Twilight's Hammer clan. Memorable quotes *"The fact that I am of both Orc and Human lineage, combined with the skills and schooling I have acquired from my journeys, has elevated me to the position I now hold." *"Never better. Needed a little exercise. This whelp was kind enough to oblige." *"Yes, surprisingly, I can read..." *"Human languages are a bit...wordy." *"Let's just say I've been having a problem with divided loyalties." *"I'm going to kill him. He treated me well, and listened when I talked, and I'm going to kill him. No." *"In your histories, there are continual justifications for all manner of hellish actions. Claims of nobility and heritage and honor to cover up every bit of genocide, assassination, and massacre. At least the Horde is honest in their naked lust for power." *"Human or orc...An orc would say that it's a human hand—too slender to be really useful, not enough muscle to hold an ax or bash a skull in properly—too pale, too weak, and too ugly. You see the parts of me that are orcish. My orcish superiors, and all other orcs, see the parts of me that are human. I am both, and neither, and considered an inferior being by both sides." *"He made me feel human. And I haven't felt human in a long, long time."The Last Guardian, 228 *"I feared, but survived. And I found my half-breed life gave me insight on these humans."The Last Guardian, 232 Items *Malyfous Darkhammer, a member of the Thorium Brotherhood, notes that the is Garona's trademark chestpiece (as seen in the render above). He offers players a replica of the breastplate, given a certain amount of materials. * is a drop from The Curator in Karazhan, where Garona stayed during her time as emissary. *Yogg-Saron, whose role in certain events on Azeroth including Llane's assassination is unclear, drops and (most likely the dagger used to assassinate Llane Wrynn) *The Tier 9 Horde rogue set is named Garona's Battlegear. *She is the subject of the rogue quest item book: Media Video Gallery File:Garona.jpg|An early render of Garona from a pre alpha version of Warcraft 3 File:Garona3.jpg|"Garona" by Metzenhttp://www.sonsofthestorm.com/viewer.php?artist=metzen&cat=warcraft&art=15 File:Orcassasin.jpg|Garona? File:Garona comic.jpg|Garona as she appears in the comic. File:WoW15CoverArtwork.jpg|Issue 15 - Conflicting Loyalties cover. File:WoW18CoverArtwork.jpg|Garona fighting Varian Wrynn. File:GaronaWCS.jpg|Garona in Beginnings and Ends File:Guldan and Garona.jpg|A young Garona with Gul'dan File:MedivhGarona|kissing Medivh in the comics File:Garona_Action_Figure.jpg|The Garona action figure A Quiet Night at Karazhan by Ghostey.jpg|Garona and Khadgar by Ghostey Garona Halforcen 0.5.1.png|Garona in all diffrent apprences and ages. Fan art by Assey Westfall References External links de:Garona es:Garona Halforcen fr:Garona no:Garona Halforcen pl:Garona Halforcen Category:Major characters Category:Orcs Category:Draenei Category:Half-breeds Category:Lore characters Category:Shadow Council Category:Featured Articles Category:Warcraft: The Last Guardian characters Category:World of Warcraft (comic) characters Category:Rogues Category:Twilight Highlands NPCs Category:Unique voices Category:Female